- Source
- Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.110.1-2.110.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
The story of the colossal statues built by King Sesostris in front of the temple of Hephaestus, and how a priest later prevented King Darius of Persia from erecting his own statue in front of them, citing Sesostris's superior achievements, to which Darius conceded.
βασιλεὺς μὲν δὴ οὗτος μοῦνος Αἰγύπτιος Αἰθιοπίης ἦρξε, μνημόσυνα δὲ ἐλίπετο πρὸ τοῦ Ἡφαιστείου ἀνδριάντας λιθίνους, δύο μὲν τριήκοντα πηχέων, ἑωυτόν τε καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα, τοὺς δὲ παῖδας ἐόντας τέσσερας εἴκοσι πηχέων ἕκαστον·
This king was the only Egyptian who ruled over Ethiopia; and he left as monuments before the temple of Hephaestus stone statues, two of thirty cubits, representing himself and his wife, and those of his four children, each being twenty cubits.
τῶν δὴ ὁ ἱρεὺς τοῦ Ἡφαίστου χρόνῳ μετέπειτα πολλῷ Δαρεῖον τὸν Πέρσην οὐ περιεῖδε ἱστάντα1 ἔμπροσθε ἀνδριάντα, φὰς οὔ οἱ πεποιῆσθαι ἔργα2 οἷά περ Σεσώστρι τῷ Αἰγυπτίῳ· Σέσωστριν μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα τε καταστρέψασθαι ἔθνεα οὐκ ἐλάσσω ἐκείνου καὶ δὴ καὶ Σκύθας, Δαρεῖον δὲ οὐ δυνασθῆναι Σκύθας ἑλεῖν·
A long time afterwards, the priest of Hephaestus would not suffer Darius the Persian to set up his statue in front of these, saying that there had not been achievements performed by him such as had been by Sesostris the Egyptian; for Sesostris had subdued no fewer nations than he, and especially the Scythians, whereas Darius had not been able to conquer the Scythians.
οὔκων δίκαιον εἶναι ἱστάναι ἔμπροσθε τῶν ἐκείνου ἀναθημάτων μὴ οὐκ ὑπερβαλλόμενον3 τοῖσι ἔργοισι. Δαρεῖον μέν νυν λέγουσι πρὸς ταῦτα συγγνώμην ποιήσασθαι.
Therefore, it was not just, he said, for him to set up his statue in front of that king’s offerings when he did not surpass him in his achievements. At this, they say, Darius showed forgiveness.
- 2.110.2οὐ περιεῖδε ἱστάντα
The verb περιορῶ (to overlook, permit) is used with the participle ἱστάντα (accusative present active participle of ἵστημι) to mean "to allow someone to do something". Here, with the negative οὐ, it means "did not permit Darius to set up [his statue]".
- 2.110.2οὔ οἱ πεποιῆσθαι ἔργα
Indirect discourse introduced by φάς. The pronoun οἱ is the third-person dative (referring here to Darius), acting as a dative of agent with the perfect passive infinitive πεποιῆσθαι (from ποιέω), meaning "that deeds had not been achieved by him".
- 2.110.3μὴ οὐκ ὑπερβαλλόμενον
The accusative participle ὑπερβαλλόμενον refers to the subject (Darius). Because the governing clause is negative (οὔκων δίκαιον εἶναι), the negative of the conditional participle ("if he did not surpass") is expressed by μὴ οὐ.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1